This photo came up on my Facebook newsfeed the other day that genuinely upset me. I’m a naturally slender girl. I was genetically “blessed” with a fast metabolism. As a generation we were all brainwashed to believe that skinny = the only beautiful. Curvy is beautiful. Genuinely fat – as in clinically obese – should not be glorified, or rewarded, it’s an issue, but unless it has an impact on your health it really should not be your place to judge or comment.
Everyone has an opinion on what’s beautiful, let’s be honest, like I said in a previous article, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet why are skinny girls getting just as much ridicule, hate comments, and judgement as big girls? Also, why is this magnified on women’s body images; what about how fat and thin men are?
Society tells us to be ourselves and love ourselves, because we are all beautiful. But we forget that we are society, and we all judge each other’s appearances without even thinking twice about it. Furthermore, if a slender girl says “oh she’s fat”, shit hits the fan; everyone says she’s a judgemental bitch. However, if a fat girl judges a woman for being skinny, or makes comments like “stick-thin bitch” (I’ve had that one before), wildly accusing someone of having an eating disorder, it’s unacknowledged, no one cares; everyone agrees. I think it’s wrong!
What I want to know is when did it become everyone else’s problem, let alone business what someone else looks like? The one phrase that really bothers me is “real women have curves”, actually, real women have tits and vaginas, curves depend on her body shape. I don’t have big boobs, my “curves” are in the “wrong” places, and I have “stick like” arms and legs. I’m fine with that, everyone else should be too. I don’t ever weigh myself. I don’t go on stupid diets, and I could eat three muffins, a plate of spaghetti, and devour a large Domino’s pizza within a day, *queue the jealous bitch within* and not notice it on my waistline in a week’s time. Because I simply couldn’t care less; life is too short. Be healthy, be happy. We’re allowed to indulge, but we have to look out for ourselves.
Why are we constantly being told to judge our bodies, and other people’s bodies, based on the size of celebrities? Why aren’t we told to appreciate those little things we like about ourselves? Why aren’t we told to notice the really great things about our bodies like – oh I don’t know – if they actually work? We can walk, run, speak, think, dress ourselves, hug people, kiss people, dance, eat, drink, have sex… Why can’t we just love the good things, and accept that everybody has flaws, but everyone is beautiful? It’s become a degraded cliché to think so, but, why?! They’ve made it more difficult to accept the good with the bad.
In my theory, I have decided that judging someone or criticising them for their looks, which I and everyone else has done, just makes you look awful. It’s just obvious to everyone you’re bitching to that you’re deeply insecure, slightly rude, and not to be trusted when they’re not wearing make-up or dodging the gym for a week… There’s nothing sexy or appealing about putting other people down; it’s just for the immediate yet temporary plaster on the insecurity wound you cut for yourself.
The fact is, there’s nothing to be jealous of if you feel someone “looks better” than you, and there’s nothing to be critical about if you think someone looks worse. Everybody’s different. Embrace it, kids, or you’ll find yourself miserable.
So because everyone’s obsessed with celebrities, their bodies, their looks and their diets etc. here’s a list of equally beautiful skinny & curvy celebrities, in all their glory.
Curvy Girls
Kim Kardashian
Surgery or not, I have been undeniably envious of Kimmy K’s figure. Almost cartoon-like, her curves are flawless. Think what you like about her, or even her relationship with Kanye, her ridiculous baby name choice; but you cannot deny she is gorgeous. Unbelievable sense of fashion – even before you came along, Kanye – she’s reportedly started educating herself on the ins and outs of the industry. This is a woman who works beyond being an “it girl” or a “celeb”. The Kardashian Kollection was an amateur go at the designer’s life – shown by the not that clever, only slightly uneducated, but obviously reasoned miss-spelling of the word “collection” *rolls eyes*. I think we need to watch this space.
Beyoncé
Queen Bey sets the standard for all curvy beauties across the globe. Well known for how damn hard she works to make everything she does a success, which is inevitable when it’s her, means she has to look fierce, act fabulous, stay flawless. On a daily basis I see people tweet “I wish I was Beyoncé”; do you though? She may be incredible, but she doesn’t get to be lazy if she wants to look as incredible as she does. Another woman in the spotlight who works her bootylicious ass off, she doesn’t need Jay Z to speak for her, make her look good; she’s the boss of Beyoncé. She never allows a photoshopped image of herself to promote a product because she knows that she’s beautiful. We all want to be like her, so let’s follow her example, don’t just work hard, work Beyoncé hard – don’t just say you’re beautiful to be like her, believe it, Beyoncé style.
Billie Piper
I have had a girl crush on Piper since her 90’s pop music career, to her emotional and brilliant performance as Rose on Doctor Who (slightly inspiring my 15-year-old chav phase *cringe*), all the way to her raunchy date with ITV, acting as Belle De Jour, the London call girl who’s blog and national best seller book got everyone rather excited. I remember, whilst watching the series, that as her character, a high class escort loving her London lifestyle, she had charisma, sexuality (obviously), compassion, self-respect, and she was ever so slightly sassy. She wasn’t actually “skinny”, or “too thin” which is proof that the men who want these girls like a curvy figure. It wasn’t even the blonde hair that makes her attractive, the rouged lips, or the lingerie. By far, the personality of her character shows “sexiness”, not so much her body (however didn’t she just look flawless?!)
Skinny Mini’s
Cara Delevingne
Known primarily for her rich Daddy, her eyebrows, and her never ending talents, Cara, like Billie’s escort character, has charisma. Charisma De Le Vingne. The brilliant thing about Cara, I read a while ago, was that most of her success comes from her turning down 70% of job offers. Crazy right!? – However logically, it works. She has certain exclusivity, in her own right, a bit like Belle. No I’m not calling Cara a whore, but it just goes to show, these women are the epitome of “sexy” and they’re considered beautiful by people who outta know, yet they both share completely different body types. They have a sense of exceptionality, elite women, which we all are in our own way as unique individual women. Cara is so self-confident; she can walk down a catwalk for a prestigious fashion brand, and take a selfie at the same time. She’s self-sure, doesn’t stick her nose up, she keeps it cool, yet classy. That’s why she’s attractive, not the circumference of her thighs. She gets away with anything because she’s cool, she has that spark, it’s not her eyebrows that got her noticed; it’s just the first thing you see.
Kate Moss
She’s the most influential woman in fashion. When I worked at The Times on their fashion intern desk, it was the same week Kate had gone out for her 40th birthday wearing a leopard print coat. Immediately I was set on a mission to find however many celebrities I could who had recently been spotted in similar attire. She’s more than a trendsetter, she’s a lifestyle. She may be all over the tabloids but she holds a certain mystery to her poise. Her story is known worldwide, you could recognise those eyes anywhere. Her face could sell the Kardashian Kollection. She’s a legend. She can sell one particular shade of nail polish with one photograph. Yet she doesn’t have Beyoncé curves. Funny that…
Miley Cyrus
I know what you’re thinking. She’s tacky and you hate her. Well at least I do, kind of. In all honesty, it’s primarily because she’s not like me: she smokes weed and promotes it, she dances like a Club I reject and she looks like Angelica from the Rugrats when she puts her hair in bunches. I get it guys; I feel it too. But I read her interview with Elle magazine and I have to say this is something I respect about her
“Oh, yeah, I’m not really trying to be sexy. I try to explain to girls that you don’t have to have long blond hair and big boobs. It’s sexual—it is. But in a different way.”
She’s not trying, but she’s got all of the attention. She sets trends. She’s completely herself but different from the typical “sexy girl”. I actually respect her look, it’s her “twerking” and her tongue I’m not too keen on. But everyone has flaws… The fact is that she is a sexy girl, the way she carries herself, the way she “doesn’t give a fuck”, how hard she works, how strong she has become. People adore her because she looks after herself, not by promoting a certain body image, she talks about her struggles with depression, anxiety, which we all can connect with and relate to on different levels. However what makes Miley beautiful is that she’s strong enough to come out and say it. She’s brave enough to be herself in this society where we’re told we have to look a certain way, with a side order of a million contradictions.
When I set out to write this article, including these celebrities happened on a whim, but I actually learned something from my creative spontaneity: I had a point, all along. All of these women are influential, beautiful, and damn amazing. They’ve made household names of themselves, for which they have worked hard for. But what I noticed is the underlying issue is bitching, celebrity watch, people caring how many pounds one well-known woman has put on, yet it’s never quite noticed with men, is it? It’s because women, maybe naturally, maybe due to this celebrity culture evolution, we look out for peaks and flaws in another girl’s image. Our problem as women: non-acceptance. We don’t accept ourselves in some way or another so we don’t accept other people because we fear we should envy them if they accept themselves. I’m guilty of it, every woman is.
The fact is though, that these women are all as successful as they are because you don’t hear them bitching about other women.
Girls compete with each other, women empower one another.
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